Campaign panel seeks
details of radio ad
featuring Bainum
The state Campaign Spending Commission is raising new questions about an aborted radio advertising campaign featuring mayoral candidate Duke Bainum.
Bob Watada, the commission's executive director, said his office will send a letter to radio station owner New Wave Broadcasting seeking billing and payment information for the 30-second radio spot.
"We want to find out who paid for the ad and how much was paid," Watada said.
The ad -- which ran more than 600 times between March and April on New Wave's KDDB, KHUI, KPOI and KQMQ radio stations -- voiced the complaints of two local residents about sewer spills on Oahu and potholes on the H-1 freeway. It included a voice-over by Bainum urging residents to register to vote.
Phyllis Kihara, a Bainum spokeswoman, said the campaign was not aware of any new efforts by the commission to look into the matter.
A campaign spokesman said the ad was set up earlier this year as a free public service announcement by the radio stations to promote voter registration. The spokesman said the Bainum campaign ended up paying New Wave more than $10,000 in May after the commission alleged that the ad was a political commercial and not a public service announcement.
The campaign also paid a $100 fine and pulled the ad to settle with the commission.
Bainum, a former Honolulu City Council member, has made government reform a key component in his campaign platform. His opponent in the nonpartisan race, former City Councilman Mufi Hannemann, has been forced to returned more than $70,000 in campaign funds that were found to be illegal.
In its latest inquiry, the commission is taking a look at a notarized invoice for the ad. The invoice was addressed to JN Automotive Group, one of the state's largest auto dealers.
The Star-Bulletin obtained a copy of a May 9 KQMQ invoice stamped "Trade." Radio stations often trade air time for commercials to business in exchange for goods and services.
Any payment or exchange for goods by JN Automotive could be considered an unreported political contribution to the Bainum campaign. The $10,000 amount would also exceed the $4,000 contribution limit for mayoral campaigns.
But Robin Kennedy, general sales manager for New Wave, said there was no exchange agreement with JN Automotive and that the invoice was marked "Trade" as a result of the station's informal, internal billing system.
She said JN Automotive made no cash payment to the station, nor did it provide a trade in the form of the use of a car.
Kihara said the Bainum campaign is confident that it did not receive any improper contributions.
Kennedy said she listed JN Automotive as the addressee on the invoice because she always associated the Bainum campaign with JN Automotive. She said she first met Bainum through JN Automotive Vice President Ken Stanford during a social event last year.
Kennedy said that shortly after that meeting, Bainum agreed to serve as spokesman for a public service announcement against drunken driving, which ran on New Wave's stations in November and December.
Stanford could not be reached for comment.
"These were never intended to be political ads," Kennedy said.